Use Gmail as your default email client in Firefox

It's always frustrated me when clicking a "mailto" link in a browser, and it tries to open Outlook.  I use GMail for all my email.  Turns out that since Firefox 3.0, there is a fix.

* go to Tools > Options
* select the Applications tab
* search for mail
* select Use Gmail from the list of actions associated with the mailto protocol
* click OK to save the settings.

Thanks to the Google System Blog for pointing this out.

http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2009/06/set-gmail-as-default-email-client.html

Steps to making your garden more bird friendly

Birds are a wonderfull sight, pleasant to listen too, and incredibly important to the environment.  Unfortunately, they are also very susceptible to environmental changes, loss of habitat and other issues that threaten their survival. 

The Daily Green has a great article about simple steps we can all take to make our yards more bird friendly, including things like what of feed, what to plant, and how to provide shelter.  I'm going to try and incorporate several of them.

http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/bird-gardens-47022602

How to clean up your Facebook Feed - Get rid of all the quiz and application notices.

Facebook had a significant design change last week, and for many, this was not a positive change. I might be in the minority, but I don't actually mind the visual aspects of the design, with one huge, glaring, obnoxious exception. I love to see my friends statuses, links they find interesting, photos, videos, and wall posts. I have little to no interest when they take a quiz and the quiz tells them they should be living in Ireland. Or similar things.

It used to be that Facebook allowed you some control over what showed up in your feed. I told it really liked photos, and didn't like quizzes, and it worked reasonably well. They removed this option. Boo Facebook.

But there is an answer- And it's name is Firefox and Greasemonkey. For those not familiar, Firefox is a great cross-platform web browser. through the use of Extensions and Add-ons, it allows a level of control over your browsing unmatched by other browsers. Chrome might be faster, but I can't give up my extensions. If you're not using it, you should be.

Greasemonky is an add-on for Firefox that allows you to run scripts that customize your browsing. Greasemonkey scripts are designed to run when you visit certain websites, and they can do all kinds of magic. Here are the 4 steps to Facebook happiness:

1. Install Firefox - http://www.firefox.com
2. Install GreaseMonkey
3. Restart your browser
4. Go here and click Install- this adds a script to Greasemonkey
5. Enjoy a new, nicer, quieter Facebook.  

Ordinary objects, super uses.

This definately falls more on the "tools" end of the spectrum, since many of these are decidely low-tech, but this article has some great suggestions for some unexpected uses for stuff you've probably got around the house.  I've used some before, and will certainly try others.  Some of my favorites:

22 Tenderize a roast by adding a peeled banana to the pan.

32 Sprinkle soda in tennis shoes, socks, boots and slippers to eliminate odor. 

42 Get rid of slugs in your garden. Put a shallow dish of beer into your soil buried up to the lip. The slugs will be attracted to the beer and become stuck in it. Empty the dish each day and replace with new beer as they are attracted to the smell.

81 Keep brown sugar soft by adding a few marshmallows to the bag before closing it. 

85 Repair fine cracks in china plates and cups can by boiling them in milk. The milk reacts with the kaolin in china and closes the crack. Place the plate in a pan, cover it with milk (fresh or reconstituted powdered milk) and bring to a boil. As soon as it starts to boil, lower the heat and simmer for about 45 minutes.

There are 112 tips here, worth a quick read: Ordinary objects, super uses

Evernote - Great online/computer notebook tool. Better than Google Notebook.

After the disappointing discontinuation of Google Notebook, I've been testing a few different replacements, and I think I've settled on Evernote as by far my favorite.  I can't imagine anyone who does ANY amount of online research not using a tool like this. 

From their site, the list several great features:

• On the web - Create, clip, and share notes on the web and see them everywhere
• There is an excellent Firefox extension too.  Definitely worth the install. 
  
• Evernote on Mobile Phones -Take snapshots, read to-do lists, record audio whenever and wherever you like
• Evernote on Mac and PC -On your desktop - Search through all your notes, even find text within images, whether online or off

The mobile phone application is cool.  If you're out an about, you can easily add notes or photos to Evernote, and they'll be on you computer when you next fire up the program.  Slick as snot.

Another really cool feature is that it recognizes text within images.  So if you've got a photo of a donut sign, and search on the word donut, it should find it.  Awesome. 

A few disappointments-

• The Free service has limitations, based on quantity of notes.  This is a pretty minor complaint, as the free limit seems relatively generous.  And anyone using the tool enough to hit those limits should be willing to pay a bit. 
• Bigger disappointment is that it lacks the easy collaboration tools that Google Notebook had.  It'd be awesome to be able to share notes with other Evernote users.   You can publish you notes, so others can see them, but there is not an easy way I see to allow others to share a common Notebook.  Hopefully Evernote will add this feature in the future.  

Online Vector Image editor from Aviary

There are dozens of good capable online Photo editing programs out there, but few Vector image editors. And sometimes you need to edit or create a vector image.

Raven is a new product from Aviary that allows vector image editing in your browser. I don't think it'll replace Illustrator for serious designers, but for casual or occasional users, it seems very full featured.

Some Features:

• Raven is a vector editor. Those familiar with graphic design will appreciate this tool because vector art is fully scalable (it doesn’t pixelate or distort when size is changed).


• Raven allows you to work with paths, lines, curves, and objects. You have control over stroke, fill color, and gradient.


• Just like in Aviary Phoenix, students can work with layers, groups, and layer masks.


• Unlike Illustrator, Raven has built in collaboration and sharing tools, a big advantage if working remotely with others.
• Free!
  

Try it out. http://aviary.com/tools/raven

My earlier reviews of online photo editors:
http://www.geoffcj.com/2008/03/free-online-photo-editors.html
http://www.geoffcj.com/2008/03/photoshop-online-eh-not-so-much.html
http://www.geoffcj.com/2008/03/fotoflexer-better-than-photoshop-online.html

GMail gets even better with offline access and "flakey connection mode". Faster too!

I'm an unabashed GMail (Google Mail) fan.  It's fast, searches work great, and I love tags vs. folders.   It simply works great.  And it's easy to manage multiple email addresses from one spot.   If you've got an email address that you want to keep, you can manage nearly any email address through Google.

And Google has released a new option that makes it better.  It's a local cached and sync'd copy of your email.  It does a couple of things:

• It offers offline access.   So if you're working somewhere without internet, you've got your email.  And in the same format and features you are used too.   Even search works. Awesome.  Of course, you won't get new emails, and your sent emails won't go until you have internet, but great for flights or anywhere without a connection. 
• They also offer a "flakey connection mode".  I've got a client I want to set up with Google Apps email, but I've hesitated because his office is in the sticks and uses satellite email that is intermittent.  This takes care of that.  
• Cool, unexpected feature?  Even when you are connected, it's clearly, clearly faster on my machine.  Selecting a new folder or hitting compose simply happens quicker.  
  

Downsides?  Of course, it will use some local storage space, so if your harddrive is packed, maybe not the best option.   Other than that, I can't think of any. 

You need to have Gears , but if you're using Chrome you've already got it, otherwise it's easy to install.  Then

1. Click Settings and click the Labs tab.
2. Select Enable next to Offline Gmail.
3. Click Save Changes.
4. After your browser reloads, you'll see a new "Offline^0.1" link in the upper righthand corner of your account, next to your username. Click this link to start the offline set up process and download Gears if you don't already have it.

Want to sign up for Google Mail? http://mail.google.com

Woah, when did Google add Ocean floors to Google Maps?

I didn't see this in any of the blogs I follow, but it seems like Google has added ocean floor details to Google Maps.  As a kayaker and scuba diver, I absolutely love this.   Amazing.

R.I.P Google Notebook

What a shame. Google has shut down Google Notebook.   (They actually shut down several sites/services, but Notebook was the only one I used.  See a wrap up here.) I love Google Notebook, and I'm pleased to see they will continue to offer it to those of us that have used it for awhile, but they will no longer update it, or offer it if you're not already signed up.  You might try signing up today, just in case you want ti at some point in the future. 

This is a shame.  My first Google disappointment in a long time. 

I've got a Beta invite to WebNotes.  I've been meaning to try it, but been busy.  I'll try it soon and report back.   You can also read my review of Notebook and competitor Zotero here

50 crazy cool CSS Tools

CSS defines how most every modern website works. It's powerful, but not always easy to use. Smashing magazine has an excellent list of CSS tools. Any web designer would be well served to look through this list, and bookmark it for later. If you're trying to do anything in CSS, this will likely make it easier.

50 Extremely Useful And Powerful CSS Tools | CSS | Smashing Magazine